Demons
by One Singular Waffle
Summary: When Clary Morgenstern Wakes up to a man she thinks she's never met before, and a ring with a diamond the size of Texas on her left ring finger, she freaks out. She freaks out even more when she realizes that this man wants to stay together. The problem is that Clary has her demons, and the past won't let go so easily. So the big question is, what comes next? (Abandoned)
1. Chapter 1

**Song(s) of the day: **_**Thanks, I Hate It **_**by **_**Simple Creatures,**_ _**Easy to Hate **_**by **_**Waterparks, **_**and **_**Problems **_**by **_**The Weathers**_

**Cpov**

Clary was running. She wouldn't say that she was actually running using her feet, and she wouldn't say that she didn't know where she was going, because those statements would be untrue. She had some _ideas _for where she wanted to go to, and the first stop on her trip would be Vegas, to hopefully get some money, to be able to head to another country, to then _finally _be free of, well, everything. But mostly her dad. Especially her dad.

She wouldn't consider her dad the nicest person in the world, and she could guarantee that no one else did either. In the small town of Idris, New York, everyone was aware that Valentine Morgenstern was a drunk, had beat his children, and eventually drive his wife to commit suicide. It was also common knowledge that Clary self harmed. It's not like anyone did anything about it though.

The more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to go to Vegas. But, since she was already halfway there, she had figured that she'd better keep going. She was taking buses, since they were generally cheaper than planes. And, besides, the bus stop was closer to home than the airport, and she really didn't want to have to be charged for stealing her dad's car.

She had literally graduated from school the day before, and she didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, it was great that she was eighteen, but at the same time, she didn't have anywhere near the money that was needed to get to college (she only had $3,000 in her bank account, because she saved a good chunk of the money that she earned while working weekends at the same McDonald's she had worked at since she had first gotten her work permit). But, at least she had a high school diploma, and maybe that would get her somewhere.

Clary felt the bus come to a halt, right before the bus driver screeched, "Last stop, the Las Vegas Strip!"

She was glad to get off the stuffy bus, and before thanking the bus driver, she adjusted the straps on her backpack, and got off at her stop. She had no clue what to do next, because she was an eighteen year old, with no money, in Las Vegas. This was so, _so_ painfully stupid of her.

"Hey, you just going to stand there, or are you going to actually go experience some of the stuff?" An angelic voice said.

"Oh, sorry," she said as she shuffled away from the voice. But before she could get too far, a hand caught her arm, and turned her around. And her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the most beautiful person she had ever seen. Golden hair, skin, and eyes. He was perfect, except she had a feeling that he was a player, so, she would be staying the hell away from him. Besides, he looked at _least_ five years older than her. So, that would also be a huge no.

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was, most people here don't want to sit around and do nothing, you know?" he gave a wry grin.

"I was just thinking, besides, I couldn't afford anything here if I tried," she paused for a second, and then her face began to flush, and she gasped when she realized, "Oh shit! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry! I'll just go, that was really- I'm sorry, I should go!"

And, for the second time again that night, before she could walk away, he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him again. "Hey, it's fine. I get it, you're in a tough spot. I could help you, if you want?"

She was mortified now, he thought that she wanted help? "No, I'll be fine. I'll figure something out. I at least have enough money for one night at an okay-ish hotel, so I'll figure it out."

"Please? This place sucks you in like no other, honestly, you'll be out of money by tomorrow. And, I know that you think that the hotels are cheaper than they are."

"I'm not sure? I mean, you're a total stranger," She was getting impatient now, she wanted nothing more than to get out of this awkward situation. But, she tried to remain kind, remembering what her mother had said in her final moments: _Try not to hurt people, Clary. Don't hurt them out of selfishness like I'm doing._

"I'm Jace, and your name is?" This was completely random, and super unexpected. What was he playing at?

"Clary, my name is Clary."

"See, now we're not strangers, we're acquaintances. So, what'd you say? I'll get you a drink and everything!" So that was his deal?

"I'm only eighteen!" She exclaimed.

"So, what? I was eighteen once, I was a party animal then."

"And I'm not, so I can't just let you do something illegal for me."

"Just think about it? C'mon, I'll even let you sleep in my room, and yes, I'll sleep on the couch." She was pretty sure he added that when he saw how freaked out she got when he mentioned her sleeping in his room.

"How old are you anyways? Because you have to be about five years older than me."

"Twenty-five, and before you say anything, no alcohol has to be involved."

"Why should I trust that you aren't some psycho-killer?"

"Do I look like a psycho-killer to you?"

"I mean…" She trailed off, half joking, half not.

"Well, I swear that I'm not," He laughed. "Plus, if you really think about it, you're lucky some creepy old man hasn't tried to grab you off the street yet."

"That can happen here?" She whispered, terrified.

"I don't know, but I've heard it can happen anywhere, and I would really hate for it to happen to a nice girl like you."

"Fine," she sighed, "But only for one night," she had a feeling this was going to be a long night, and another stupid idea.

**Hey guys (and girls, and non-binary people)! I'm back (hopefully)! My goal is to get this fic done within the next 6 months or so, so hopefully that'll be realistic (probably not). I do use the copy and paste function, so my stories have a really weird format, so sorry about that.**

**Another thing! Sorry for deleting all my old stories, but I didn't really like or edit any of those, so those needed to be taken down. Also, yes, **_**Runaway**_ **was a repost, however, I did actually edit it, so it is the tiniest bit different. Anyways, hopefully you saw the song(s) of the day up at the top! Have an absolutely, positively fantabulous rest of your day!**

**-Waffles.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Song(s) of the Day: **

_**I Felt Younger When We Met**_ **by **_**Waterparks**_

_**Original Me**_ **by **_**Yungblud (Featuring Dan Renolds)**_

_**Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time **_**by **_**Panic! At the Disco**_

**Cpov**

When Clary woke up the next morning, she noticed a few things: one, she was in the most luxurious room she had ever been in. Two, she had a killer headache. Three, she had a huge diamond ring on her left hand ring finger. Four, she still had her clothes on. Five, the water was running, so there was someone in the bathroom taking a shower. Therefore, she didn't have much time to piece together what happened until -who she assumed was- Jace got out of the shower.

The last thing she remembered was Jace handing her a drink - which she had asked for - after she had asked Jace for a few drinks prior to that. And, she remembered them both being pretty tipsy. So, pretty much, they had gotten drunk, gotten married, somehow made it back to the hotel room, and then fell asleep. So, all and all, she would say that she had a pretty eventful night last night.

She looked over at the nightstand, and she saw a glass of water and a bottle of advil. She took her correct dosage gratefully, and then tried to go back to bed. The problem was, the shower had shut off at that exact moment. However, it still didn't stop her from shutting her eyes tighter, and putting one of the pillows over her head.

She finally gave up when she heard a chuckle from across the room. "Would you shut up?" she snapped, because the laughing was definitely not helping her throbbing head.

"I take it you _didn't_ take the advil yet?" Jace asked.

"Look at the glass, asshat," Clary was really pissed off now. Mostly because she didn't have any coffee. But, then again, she couldn't afford it.

"Well I'm sorry if I wasn't sure whether you had only drank the water and hadn't taken any of the advil," he remarked.

"Whatever," she huffed. Then it really hit her. Not that she hadn't thought about it before, but it had only just set in now. "Wait, holy shit, did we get _married_?" She sat up, but immediately regretted it, because she felt like someone had smacked her over the head with a baseball bat for a second.

"Yep," he said, sitting down on the edge of the empty side of the bed. His golden hair was still wet from the shower, and Clary thought he looked ethereal. Not that he hadn't before, but in this lighting, he looked like an actual angel.

"So, when are we going to get divorce papers?"

"Never," He said flopping back onto the bed, so his head was almost in her lap. She thanked God that he was wearing clothes, because if he was in only a towel, it probably would've fallen down, and then Clary probably would've freaked out. It's not like she was freaked out by the prospect of sex, it's just that Jace was a total stranger, and that would be weird.

"I'm sorry, _what_ did you just say?"

"I said, that we aren't going to get a divorce."

"And who said that you get to make this choice?"

"Clary," he said, sitting up again, "I know that this isn't exactly what you imagined, but it'll be better than whatever you came here for, I promise."

"You know that doesn't freak me out any less, right?"

"Just- just give me a year, and then we can talk about divorce if you really want it, okay?"

"First of all, a year is a long time to be married to a stranger, and second of all, why _exactly _should I trust you?" she asked.

"Yes, I know a year is a while, but if I asked for like, a month or something, that wouldn't be enough time for you to start to fall in love with me. And yes, you should trust me, because I actually do genuinely care about you. I might even go as far as to say that I love you."

"What do you mean that you might even say that you love me? You barely even know me! And if I'm correct, I wasn't the only one drinking last night."

"You see, I only drank enough to get a little tipsy, where as you drank enough to black out. And before you say that I should've cut you off, I did, just not right away and- hey! Don't look at me like that, you even said that it was the most fun you've had since your mom died!" Jace exclaimed, and then, upon seeing the look on Clary's face, said, "Clary, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up. I should've known it was a sore spot. Shit, don't cry, please don't cry!"

"I told you that?" after seeing the look on his face, she revised her question. "How much did I tell you last night?" She whispered, drying her eyes.

"I- you sure that you want to know?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

So, he told her about the time when they were walking back from the club that she told him about how much her dad drank, the times when her brother was still around to protect her, the times when her mom was still alive, the time when her she found her mother lying on the couch, with her eyes glazed over, with a bottle of pills in her hand, the time when she first cut herself with a piece of broken glass that she had found lying around the house, she had told him about all the times that her dad beat her, and finally, the time that she ran away.

"Clary, I'm so sorry," he breathed. "I wish I could go back and change the way things were, but I can't. But, I'll promise you this. I will make sure that you are happy, safe, and loved for as long as I live, and if there's life after this, I'll promise you the same then." And in that moment, he was looking at her like she was the moon and the stars, and he was a man who thought that he would never have lived to have seen another night.

"I'll give us a chance on one condition," she breathed, wanting one thing desperately.

"Anything. I'll do anything for you."

"Will you hold me?" And as soon as his arms wrapped around her, the dam broke, and Clary started to sob her heart out. And all the while, Jace just held her, and whispered sweet nothings into her ear.

After she had calmed down enough to stop crying, he whispered, "Hey, I'm going to go get some coffee. Would you like to come with me?"

"I would love to, but I need a shower," she said.

"I can wait," He responded, handing her her bag.

"Suit yourself then," she said, stepping into the bathroom. "Suit yourself," and with that, she closed the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Songs of the Day:**

_I Think I'm Okay _by _MGK (feat. YUNGBLUD)_

_1-800-273-8225 _by _Logic (feat. Alessia Cara _and _Khalid)_

_Demons _by _Hayley Kiyoko_

**Cpov**

After a five minute shower, she threw on a pair of light wash jeans, and a green t-shirt with a black zip-up hoodie over it, and pulled on her trusty sneakers that she had gotten at her local thrift shop. There was no need for her to spend extra money if she didn't have to.

As she put her red hair up in a messy bun, she contemplated why she had asked for a drink last night. Actually, she had asked for more than one - which completely surprised her. After her dad started drinking, she had promised herself that she would never drink anything that had alcohol in it.

So what had changed last night? She wasn't exactly sure, but she had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that she had wanted to feel less awkward in the club that Jace had dragged her into.

It didn't matter though, it was wrong. First of all, she was underage, so that was a problem on it's own. Second, she didn't want to end up like her father. And so, for the second time in her life, she promised herself that she would never drink any alcohol again in her life.

She felt a little better after splashing some cold water on her face. But she still felt guilty for betraying herself. Either way, she had to get out of the bathroom quickly, otherwise Jace would be wondering what was wrong. And she really, _really_ didn't need him on her back right now. So, she walked out of their with her normal blank face. Which, of course he noticed immediately, because she had never shown him her blank face before - besides about 0.005 seconds when they first met - mostly because of her being either really happy, really sad, or somewhat angry for the majority of the 12 hours that they had known each other.

12 hours? Had it really only been 12 hours since they had met? It was a little more, considering that they had met around 7:30 p.m. -ish, and it was nine o'clock in the morning now. But still, they gone from strangers to spouses in 12 hours. That was insane to her.

"Clary? Are you okay?" Jace looked genuinely concerned.

"Huh?"

"You were zoning out for a while there, but besides that, are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, and then immediately changed the subject, " You know, When you said that you'd wait for me for coffee, I really didn't think that you meant it."

"Clary, seriously, are you okay? Tell me if I'm overstepping my boundaries here, but you look like you've been through hell and back - which you have - but still. I'm worried about you."

"Well there's no need to be," she said, putting on a bright smile. "Now let's go get some coffee!" Jace frowned, and let her drag him out the door, but didn't say anything else, figuring that it would be better to just drop the subject altogether.

"So, if we're getting all 'buddy buddy' now, than what are we gonna do today?"

"Well, I need to figure out when we're flying back to England, but otherwise-"

"Did you just say England?" Clary exclaimed.

"Yeah, why? Did you just hear my accent and think, 'well, I bet he's from Florida'?"

"I've always wanted to go to the U.K!"

"Well, it is my job to make your wildest dreams come true," he jested, wiggling his eyebrows.

"That's disgusting, she pointed out, as they came to a halt in front of the hotel's restaurant.

"Fair enough," he said, opening the door for her, "After you, m'lady," he motioned for her to go in the restaurant, which she did, but only after rolling her eyes.

"You're such a cheese ball, you know that?"

"If I'm a cheese ball, then I'm your favorite cheese ball."

"Whatever," she declared, making a beeline for the coffee bar, with Jace following close behind.

"What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know, what do they have here?"

"Probably the usual hotel food, bacon, eggs, waffles-"

"Did you just say _waffles_?" Clary exclaimed, almost spilling her coffee as she turned to face him. "Where?"

"What?"

"Where are they?"

"I'm not sure. Probably by the buffet. Why?" Jace asked, genuinely confused about why she was so obsessed with waffles.

"I could die for a waffle right now. Particularly a nutella waffle, but for now, a normal waffle will do," she explained, and then walked away in search of her precious waffles.

As he was waiting Jace drank his coffee, and then had time to get a refill. By the time he had drank halfway through his third, he saw Clary walking towards him, trying to balance her coffee and her plate, which contained at least three waffles that were swimming in nutella. "Did you know that the food here is free?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, it's really only free if you have a room, but since you're with me, you're fine," he said, finishing his coffee, and then throwing the cup away. "Now, let's go find a place to sit."

"But don't you want any food?" she wondered, tilting her head to the side slightly, as he led them both to an empty table.

"You have three ginormous waffles on your plate, you can afford to share one."

"I would say no, but you're the reason that I'm getting free food, so…"

He chuckled, "That makes me feel _so _special."

"You know," she said, taking a huge bite out of her waffles, "I never learned your last name"

"Our" Jace corrected.

"Sorry, our last name." Clary finished.

Jace paled. This was the last thing that he wanted to tell her. It's not that he was ashamed of who he was, it was just that he wanted her to be kept away from his lifestyle. Besides that, for whatever reason, he had a feeling that she would not be pleased that he didn't tell her earlier. "Umm… I don't really think that it's that important."

"Of course it's important, I mean, what? You're just never going to tell me my new last name? That's pretty much the dumbest thing I ever heard."

"Fine," he sighed. "My last name is Herondale."

"Huh," She said, finishing the last of her waffles, "That's pretty funny."

"What?"

"You were named after the crowned prince of England."

"Not exactly," he replied warily.

She snorted. "What? You're meaning to tell me that you _are _the prince? In your dreams, buddy."

"Actually-"

"Let me guess, you're serious? I'm sorry to say that there's just no way that - oh. That's why you were talking about going back to London, right?"

"So you understand now?"

"Understand what? That you're some freaking prince, who somehow decided to get married to me, and _not_ want a divorce? Honestly, I don't understand what you see in me," she laughed a humorless laugh.

"Clary-"

"You know what, I _really _don't need this right now."

"Please, just wait for-" but it was too late, because she had already left.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Sorry for the long wait, I honestly have no excuse. But, anyways, thank you guys so much for all the comments! You guys are the best! XOXO - Waffles**

_**Songs of the Day:**_

_Ok (Anxiety Anthem) _by _Mabel_

_Heavy _by _Linkin Park (Ft. Kiiara)_

_In My Blood _by _Shawn Mendes_

**Cpov**

Clary was - well, she actually had no clue where _exactly _she was_. _But, she did know that she was in an ice cream parlor somewhere near the Las Vegas strip. She was trying to process everything that had happened in the last 12-ish hours, and had also gotten herself an ice cream cone. She didn't usually get ice cream, let alone ice cream that was bound to be expensive, but still. She figured she deserved it.

The people there were actually really nice. They had taken one look at her, and told her that it was "on the house". Clary had thanked them profusely and then taken a seat somewhere near the back. Which, given the size of the place wasn't to far from the counter.

So for the past thirty minutes she had been thinking about everything. And the main question she had thought of was: _Why me?_

The thing was, Clary wanted the exact _opposite _of what most girls wanted. She wanted to get _out_ of the spotlight, not in it. Sure, a younger, even smaller version of Clary had had the same fantasy that every little girl had. She had wanted to be a princess with a prince and a fairy tale wedding. But then she grew up. And realized that that dream was pathetic. There would never be a prince charming to come and sweep her off her feet. No one to rescue her from the tower she was locked in. If she wanted out, she would have to get out by herself.

And now that she was out, she never wanted back in. And while if she decided to stay with Jace it would definitely be a lot different than living with father, she knew that there would be things that were expected from her that she couldn't do.

Besides that, what prince would marry someone like her? Why not someone who had something to contribute to society, and had money, and wasn't broken. So, in summary, someone like Kaelie Whitewillow. Actually, thinking about it made her realise that he had, in fact dated her at some point in time. She thought she had seen a headline on a magazine about it a couple years back.

And, didn't it say in some buzzfeed article that the queen would have to approve of her before they got married? _Shit. _She had screwed this up royally (no pun intended).

"Clary! Thank the Angel I found you!" she cringed as he slid into the booth with her.

"Jace, did you ever think that maybe I didn't want to be found?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"I did, but then I remembered that you left pretty much everything at the hotel room, so I figured that you might want me to find you and give it back." Thank God that he wasn't going to try to talk to her about this. All she wanted was an annulment, and then she was out of his life for good. "And then I figured that we could talk about us after that." Dammit!

"Look, Jace, I really think that an annulment would be the best possible solution here. I mean, I'm, like, 99.9% sure that your mother would have to approve of me _before_ we got married. So I'm not so sure that she'll be pleased when she finds out that you got married _in Vegas _without her consent.

He screwed up his face for a second before saying, "She'll like you. I know she will. And besides, I'm known to do what I want anyways, so it's not like this'll be a shock anyway."

She sighed, and then, after a pause she said, "You do realize that if you bring me back to your parents, and then for whatever reason they approve of me, then they'll want to throw some huge wedding, and then we're stuck together for life, no matter what. I can't handle getting involved in some big scandal like getting a divorce from you. And, honestly, I'm not sure I'm ready to even be married, or settle down. I'm only 18. I want to live my life."

"I understand, Clary, I really do. But I refuse to just let you walk away, I've been the happiest I've been for a while since I met you. Please, I'll give you the world if you just stay with me."

"But I don't want the world, Jace. And, besides, whatever we have… it won't last forever."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Look, I've been through enough to see that to love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be destroyed. And I don't want to go through the pain of losing someone who's close to me again."

"You're wrong. Love doesn't destroy, it creates. And, I won't let you lose me, Clary. I swear on the Angel."

"What's with you and all the angels?"

He chuckled, "I'm not sure, it's just a thing that my family's always said, and now I say it."

"Cute," she snorted.

"You know, if I wasn't so dead set on getting you to stay with me, I would make some witty remark."

She full on laughed at that. "I think you're just at a loss for words, Herondale," she teased.

"Am not!" he retorted. But he was laughing too, because her laughter was infectious.

"I'm _sure_ you're not!" She quipped sarcastically.

"Clary," he finally said, after they had finished laughing, and had caught their breath, "this is what I mean. I could make sure you're happy and content for the rest of your life. I swear, you won't regret staying. I promise."

She thought for a moment, but finally agreed. "First of all, you can't make sure I'm happy for the rest of my life, that's impossible. But, if you're wrong about me regretting staying with you, then I swear to God that _you'll_ be the one that's regretting stuff."

"I don't doubt that, but if I'm correct -which I know I am- we've got a plane to catch in about three hours, so we'd better get going."

"How'd you know that I'd agree to staying with you?"

"I didn't. But I figured that it was about a 97% chance that you'd stay, so… you know. Besides, it doesn't matter how many people are flying, since we're flying private."

"We're what?" she squeaked.

"Flying private? You know, on a private jet?"

"You do realize that I've never flown before on a normal plane, let alone on a private jet? And I've heard that smaller planes are more likely to crash than larger planes!" The fear was evident in her eyes.

"Clary, I'm sure those are just some fake news from a Buzzfeed article."

"Actually I heard it from a Shane Dawson video," she halfheartedly laughed.

"Well, there you have it, fake news."

She started to laugh but then she heard someone's voice that she hadn't heard in a long, long time. Not since she was eleven.

"Uhhh… yeah, can I have a small mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone please?"

She whipped her head around, and her heart nearly stopped when she saw the sight in front of her. "Jon?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Cpov**

_She definitely wasn't supposed to be out of her room this late. And she knew it. But she had heard Jon's door close, and his feet clomping on the hardwood, which meant that he was out of his room, so she followed him. _

_They both knew that they didn't have to worry about their father for once in their lives, because he had drank himself to sleep. And he was a deep sleeper when that happened - which Clary had thought unusual because he was normally a light sleeper. Jon had told her that it was because when he drank too much, it was almost like him getting knocked out - with a baseball bat. She was six when he told her that._

_Jon had taken care of Clary since their mother died when she was four. She didn't remember her that much. But she did remember finding her with a bottle of pills in her hand and her eyes glassed over. She had tried to wake her up, but when that didn't work, she screamed, which had woken up both Jon and Valentine. The difference between them at that moment was that Jon had called 911, while her dad had yelled at her to be quiet._

_Seven years later, it was almost the same all over again. Her mom had left them alone, and now Jon was leaving too. So now, she _really_ was alone this time. Because from the moment she had stepped into the living room, she knew exactly what was happening. He was leaving. _

"_You promised," she whispered, her voice full of sorrow. She wanted to cry. But she couldn't. She had to be strong, unlike the rest of her family._

"_Clare, I can explain-"_

"_You don't have to, Jon. I just want you to take me with you," she begged. "You have to take me with you."_

"_No. I can't - I mean, I won't," he wouldn't look at her. Not even for a second._

"_Why won't you-" but she didn't get to finish, because the door had slammed, and her brother was gone. She hadn't even gotten a goodbye._

His name came out like a whisper, but somehow Jonathan Morganstern, her missing brother, had heard her. He looked around, searching for whoever had said his name. He still had the blond - almost white - hair and the same green eyes that she had. But he looked different somehow. He looked like he was happier, lighter, less haunted even.

"Clare-Bear?" he forgot all about his ice cream and went over to her. "You look so big now! So much older! How old are you now? It's been a few-"

And just like that, her shock and awe turned to anger. She was _furious._ How dare he leave her? He knew what Valentine would do to her. He knew! And he _still_ left! He didn't even know her age, and more importantly, he didn't care.

Clary wasn't known to make the best decisions when she was angry, and this one was no exception - however in the heat of the moment, she had slapped him. His eyes showed hurt at this action, but Clary couldn't care less. "Clary?" he asked. He still looked like a dog that had just been kicked. It hurt her a little to see him like this, but she was still fuming, so she pressed on.

"You _left _me," she whispered. "You left me! And even worse, you knew _exactly _what would happen to me when you did," her eyes were tearing up now. But she furiously blinked to try to keep them away.

"I begged you to take me with you, and you didn't. I didn't even ask you to stay. Just to let me tag along on your journey - or whatever it was," Clary's voice cracked, and the tears were starting to fall.

But she didn't care enough anymore, because now she was just flat out hurt. "You don't even know what he did to me, what _I _did to me. And you know what, you don't even care. I know it. And you want to know how I know?" It was a rhetorical question, so she didn't pause. She just kept going.

"Because you never called the police to lock him up. You never called me_._ To make sure that I was all right, or just to check in. And now, I know that you want me to leave, so I can get out of your hair, and so you can go about living your new life, without the constant reminder of your old one. So, you know what? Fine. I'll leave, then. You won't have to worry about me anymore than you already do, which you don't."

"Oh, and, Jon? One more thing," she gathered up her stuff, and right before she walked out towards the door, she went over to him, and whispered in his ear. "Fuck you."

And then, she left.

The two boys looked over at each other, and Jace, who had been sitting there the entire time and had been listening in on their conversation, like everyone else in the parlor - looked to be 100% done with Jonathon, took one look at him and said, "Go to hell," before getting up to go find Clary.

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the love and support! I mean, seriously, you guys are truly wonderful! 💖 Sorry for the shorter chapter/longer author's note, and for all the italics in the latter half of this chapter, but 1) there wasn't a lot I could do without a page break, and my goal is to have zero page breaks and longer scenes, and 2) in my head she was putting stress on a lot of words, so I felt like it was needed. And, also, if you guys have any suggestions for how you want the story to go, than PM me, and I'll try to figure something out. **_**However**_**, as much as I would love to include all suggestions, if there's a lot of them, or I can't make it work, than I'm sorry, but that (or those) suggestion(s) might not be included. Also, If you want longer chapters with page breaks, I'd be more than happy to oblige.**

**Ta ta for now,**

**Waffles**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry, but I forgot the songs of the day last chapter. So, to compensate, I doubled the ones on this chapter. Also, a huge thanks to Skybelle1272 for helping me fix the way Clary's mom died in chapter two. I had decided to change that detail, but forgot to go back to chapter two and fix it. Another thing is that sadly, I do not have an update schedule. I'm **_**way**_** to disorganized for that. Thanks to everyone for all the love and support for this story!**

**XOXO,**

**Waffles**

_**Songs of the Day:**_

_The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty _by _Panic! At the Disco_

_Turn _by _The Wombats_

_The Whole Being Dead Thing Part 2 _from the _Beetlejuice Musical_

_Therapy Session_ by _NF_

_Leave me Alone _by _NF_

_In the Dark _by _Camila Cabello_

**Cpov**

They say to make lemonade when life gives you lemons. But Clary had decided to just chuck them in her brother's face instead. The thing was, though, she realized that she probably shouldn't have done that, since she was sitting outside the parlor, crying her eyes out.

When she was little, she had idolized her brother. He did his best to protect her from Valentine, to take care of her, and even to try to fill in as the parents that had failed them both. When he was old enough, he got a job so he could buy her the food she needed, some new clothes if she really needed them, random other things such as art supplies. That was a request that came after she realized that she couldn't keep stealing supplies from the school - even if the art teacher didn't really mind it.

Valentine had never provided for her - or him - and even when her mom was alive, it wasn't enough. Sure, she had brought home enough money for them to live with a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs, but she was distant - at least that's what she vaguely remembered, and that's what her brother had confirmed.

She heard the bell on the parlor door ring, and wiped away her tears; bracing herself for her brother to start screaming as she looked up. But instead of finding angry green eyes staring back at her like she expected, she found worried gold ones.

"Are you okay, Clary?" Jace asked her, sitting down next to her. The question was rhetorical. He obviously had known something was wrong - given how she had practically screamed at her brother before storming out of the small shop.

He wrapped both arms around her small frame, "It's okay to cry, you know."

"No," She shook her head. "Crying is a sign that you're weak."

"Crying doesn't show that you're weak, it shows that you're strong enough to face your emotions like a real person," he sighed. "If you want to talk about it, then I'm here. But if you don't it's okay, and I'll still be there when you're ready. I do find that it helps though."

"What, the talking?" she huffed.

"Yeah."

"When I was four, I found my mom dead on the couch. You already know that, though," she began. She knew that this was probably going to freak him out, but she needed to finally tell someone, _in detail_ about what had happened in her life. She had only told him enough to satisfy his curiosity. And because she knew that he wouldn't push her to tell him everything - she kept the details to a minimum. "But what I didn't tell you was that when I tried to wake her up, it didn't work, and I screamed. _Jon_ was the one to call 911, to organize her funeral, to calm me down, and try to explain what had happened to her in a kid friendly way for a four year old me. He was _eleven _at the time, Jace. It was ridiculous.

You wanna know the other thing that's ridiculous? Pretty much everyone in the town knew _exactly_ what went on behind the curtains at our house. They saw me come to school covered in bruises, they saw my arms in gym class, they knew that Jon had left the day after graduation, just like I did. They knew the reason behind it all. But they didn't care. No one did."

She took a deep breath and continued on, "Jon took care of me until the day he left. He should be about your age by now, since he's seven years older than me - like you are."

"Clary -"

"I'm not finished," she shot him a glare, and then kept talking. "It was my eleventh birthday when he left. He _always_ celebrated my birthday with me. Every year - no matter what was going on. I should have known that something was wrong, because that year was different. It was like he completely forgot that I even existed. I figured that it was just because he had other things going on in his life, or that I was too old for celebrating birthdays then.

It was around midnight, and since Valentine had drank himself to sleep, I was up late drawing whatever came to mind at the moment. I heard his bedroom door close, so I knew that something was up. I found him at the front door, with a backpack in hand, putting his boots on. I tried to get him to let me go with him, but it didn't work. He slammed the door in my face the second after I tried to convince him. He left and never looked back. I didn't even get a goodbye."

"Clary, I'm so sorry -"

"I don't understand why people always say sorry for things that they don't need to say sorry for. It's so ridiculous," She laughed without humor.

"It's a way of showing empathy or sympathy. But seriously, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Because there's no reason for you to know every single little detail of my life, okay?" she snapped.

Jace sighed, "Clary, I'm your husband, we're in this together for the long haul. And I'm not expecting you to tell me everything right away, but I want you to know that I'd like for you to let me in. And that would involve telling me some things about your past. Or, you could start by just telling me how you're feeling - emotions and stuff.

I know that you think love is an illusion - but thats complete and utter bullshit. Like I said before, love doesn't destroy. It creates. You just drew the short straw when it came to a good family. But I'm here to tell you that it doesn't always have to be that way. Your life is what you make of it, Clary. Just let me in, and I can show you what a real family is like."

"Why do have to have such a way with words?" There was a single tear making its way down her face.

"I don't - have a way with words I mean."

"Yeah right," she snorted. "Now, if we're done with this little heart to heart, I'm about 90% sure we have a plane to catch in like, two and a half hours."

"You're right, we do," he said, scooping her up in his arms, so that he was carrying her bridal style.

"And _what_ do you think you're doing exactly?" She asked, looping her arms around his neck.

"_I _am carrying you back to our hotel room, because I'm such a gentleman."

"Sure you are, Jace."

"Well it's true!"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Cut me some slack here!" Jace exclaimed.

"Nope," Clary laughed, "Since I'm your wife, it is my job to annoy you 24/7; all day, every day. I'm like the postal service, nothing will keep me from annoying you. Not even the night, nor wind, nor rain. So, good luck with me."

"C'mon, Clare!" he whined.

"What I just said is my final answer."

"You're the worst."

"Well, thank you!"

_**~xXx~**_

Packing was really boring, because she barely had anything to pack, because 1) she had only brought the essentials, since she could buy the rest later if she really needed it. And, 2) the things that she had brought were already in her bag.

Jace, on the other hand, had about twenty suitcases (she was exaggerating, but still. How many suitcases does one man need?), and he didn't seem any more thrilled to pack than she did.

_"Do we really need to pack?" he had whined._

_ "Well," Clary had replied, "If you want your clothes and whatever else you brought to go back home with you, then, yes, you need to pack."_

She wished that the flight was better, but in reality, it was worse. Way worse. She was scared half to death because there was a little turbulence throughout the flight, and she thought that the plane was going to crash.

_She was clinging to Jace like he was the last life preserver on a sinking cruise ship. "Clary, it's going to be fine," he had laughed. He had apparently found this whole situation very amusing. "It's just a little turbulence, that's all."_

_ "Just a little turbulence?" she screeched. "It feels like we're about to crash!"_

_ "Well, we're not. I'll promise you that. We only have another hour until we're back to London."_

_ "Whatever. I'm taking a nap," she grumbled._

_ "Whatever floats your boat," was the last thing he said before she fell into a deep sleep._

Jace woke her up before they got off the plane. "Just so you know, there's going to be a car waiting for us right outside the plane. But there still will probably be paparazzi. We got lucky that there were none in Vegas. No one really knew that I was going there, and luckily no one really recognized me."

"Is that why you wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, like, the entire time that we were there?"

"...That's… uhh… not true?"

"Ha! You're lying!" she laughed. "And, just an FYI, you looked ridiculous!"

"Okay, you know what? That is so unfair!" he huffed. "What if I told you that you looked ridiculous with your hoodies and dark clothes?"

Clary tensed, "Well, what if I told you that I wear them to cover up all the scars on my arms?"

His eyes widened, "Clary, I'm so sorry! That was so insensitive of me-"

"Yeah, it was. Jace, I'm not proud of that time in my life, and I'm trying to move past it. And also, please try not to talk like you have to approve of every single aspect of my life, okay? It reminds me too much of Valentine."

"Of course. I'll definitely stop. Besides that though, you've used that name before - Valentine - I'm assuming that's your father?"

She stood up and grabbed her backpack. "I wouldn't necessarily call him a father, but yes," she grumbled.

"Sorry," he winced, obviously annoyed at himself for upsetting her again.

"Thanks," Jace's eyebrows shot up in confusion as she said this. "If you tell someone that it's 'fine' or that it's 'okay' after they apologize, then they're more likely to commit the same offence that they just apologized for. At least… that's what I've learned."

"Good to know. I'll have to use that at some point."

"Yep," she said. "Are you ready to go now?" she looked over at Jace, who had - for the majority of their conversation - been getting his suitcases out of the overhead bins.

"Yeah."

"Do you need help?"

"No. I think that I've got it all."

"Well that's good, because I wasn't planning on helping you." Clary smirked.

"And how is that fair?" he whined.

"It's not, but I don't like you that much, so…"

Jace put a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "How quickly you dismiss our love."

"Whatever, loverboy. Let's just go."


	7. Chapter 7

**So… Sorry for the short chapter and the long space between updates. I'm honestly not going to try to make excuses for myself.**

**Also! If any of you guys want me to revamp that one story about Clary and my OC (Kara, but I might change her name to Kira) then either comment or PM me. I thought it was a fun story, and it wasn't exactly going to be the way it seemed (but it mostly was). Also, the same goes for the other one shot I had up. I think it was up for less than an hour, but still. The one with my OC was called "Good Girl, Gone Girl" and the one shot was called "Chasing Clary".**

**Anyways, have an incredible day!**

** -Waffles**

**Songs Of The Day**

_You Should Be Sad - Halsey_

_Good in Goodbye - Madison Beer_

_Generation Why _\- _Conan Gray_

**Cpov**

Jace was right. There were so many photographers outside the small plane. Luckily, the car was right there, so she didn't have to worry about it too much. Though, she knew that she should worry about it a little bit, because there was probably enough material from the five seconds they were out of the car to write a whole article on the two of them.

At least one of the paparazzi definitely saw the ring on her finger. There was no way that they could've missed that ring. The diamond was huge - not like that was her style.

It's not that she didn't like the ring, she thought it was pretty. But, it just wasn't something that she would have ever pictured herself wearing. So, no, the ring wasn't necessarily bad. It was just… weird. She never thought that she would ever get nice things, especially when she was living with her father. So yeah, maybe it was a little bit strange having a huge chunk of a glittering rock on her finger.

"Earth to Clary?" Jace said, waving his hand in front of her face. They were in the car now, and Clary had just completely zoned out.

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I just want to know what's going on up there," he said, tapping her forehead.

She snorted, "Well, I'm sorry to inform you that my thoughts contain nothing that is that interesting."

"Clary, everything about you is interesting to me."

"If you really want to know," She huffed, "I was thinking that the diamond on this ring is huge! Like, bro, I understand you have money, but this is a little much."

"Well, I would offer to get you a new one, but I'm pretty sure that the paparazzi have already seen it, so… that would just be some strange news."

"Since when have you ever cared about what the tabloids said?" she grinned.

"Since never, but I figured that you would care."

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow.

"In my defense-" the door opened.

"Your majesty, we're here," some random dude who's name was not made known to Clary said.

"Thanks, Jordan," So _that_ was his name. "But how many times do I have to say that you can just call me Jace?"

"As many as you want, your highness, but that's not going to change if I don't want to get fired-which I don't."

"Okay, fair point," he said, getting out of the car.

Jace offered his hand to Clary, which she graciously took. "This place is gorgeous!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is," Jace breathed, but he wasn't looking at the palace.

She whipped her head around, "Seriously Jace?" she laughed. "How much more cliche can you get?"

"Not much," He grinned, before grabbing her arm, and tugging her inside.

**~xXx~**

"You married her?" Jace's mother screeched at him. Clary just cringed and hid behind him. Apparently his father was somewhere else. She considered herself lucky for the moment, even though she had no idea what his father was like.

"I love her mother, unlike you and my father! You just married him for the money, and he married you for publicity!" he screamed back.

"Listen here, young man-"

"No, mother, you listen! Clary is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and you can't just take away my happiness-or her for that matter. She's staying, or I'm leaving with her!"

"Jace," Clary spoke up, "maybe I should just-"

"No!" He exclaimed, his expression softening when he looked back at her. "I want you to stay... please." Clary just looked at him like he was insane. Why would he go through all this when he could have just thrown her out on the streets already?

Jace opened his mouth as if to say something, but then his mother screeched at him- again, "Fine, do it your way then! I want the both of you gone before tomorrow morning, you hear me!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Celine!" Another voice spoke up. "Jace is right on multiple accounts. They're both staying."

Clary's head whipped around, only to find another guy standing there. "Is that your dad?" Jace simply nodded.

"You kids can both go. I think that Celine and I need to have a chat," Though his words were spoken gently-as they were directed towards Clary and Jace-his eyes conveyed anger. Clary knew that look all too well, and practically sprinted out of the room when given the chance.

"Clary!" Jace shouted as she collapsed against a wall as soon as they were out of the room (Jace said it was a parlor but she still had no idea what that meant).

"I'm fine," she said shakily, but they both knew that she wasn't.

"C'mon, let's go get you some food. I think that you'll feel better once you have something in your system."

This time it was her turn to nod, as she grabbed his hand that he had offered to pull her up from her position on the ground.

"Jace," She asked after a minute. He turned around giving her his full attention, "Do you guys have nutella here?"

"If we don't I'm sure we could get some," He laughed.


	8. Chapter 8

** A/N: Sorry for the shitty chapter, but I felt like I had to publish something. **

**Also, if you've read my new story, thank you! I know I said that I would expand on it way more, but I'm wondering if I should just write an epilogue and be done with it. If you want input on the whole thing, go comment over there. If not, that's cool too.**

**Anyways, have an incredible day,**

**-Waffles**

**Songs of the Day:**

_Teeth-5 Seconds of Summer_

_No Shame-5 Seconds of Summer_

_Hot (AZTX remix)-Kenzie_

**Cpov**

The kitchen was incredible. It was quite large and (like the rest of the place) it was beautiful. On top of that, Jace had managed to find some nutella for her so she could put it on the waffles he made. It was really sweet of him-but then again, he'd always been sweet to her.

It was… nice to have someone to look out for her, for once in her life. Besides Jon, no one ever had. Clary had only had one friend in her life-Simon. But, just like every other important person in her life, he left too.

"Clary?" Jace was looking at her like he was concerned about her.

She didn't understand why until she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away. "I'm fine," she said, going to put her empty plate in the sink.

"You know, when a girl says they're fine, I most often find that they're not. Now what's really bothering you? Because if it's my mom I can-"

"It's not your mom." She returned to her spot on the kitchen island, which they were both sitting on.

"Then what is it, babe?"

"Babe?"

"What? Don't you like it? I thought I'd try a new nickname for you. If you don't like it-"

"No, no. It's… cute," Clary laughed.

"See! I _told_ you that I'd make you happy!" He exclaimed, an infectious grin lighting up his face.

"You, kind sir, also said that you'd make me happy 'forever'. And I know for a fact that I was just crying a few seconds ago. So how are you going to explain that?" she was just messing around, but the look on Jace's face seemed to convey that he didn't know that. " I was just joking! You do make me happy, you never have to worry about that. Okay?"

He pulled her closer and he wrapped his arms around her, putting his chin on her head as she snuggled close to him. "But I do have to worry about that, Clary. It's in my job description."

She pulled back a bit to see his face, "Jace, I think that you have a twisted vision of what being a husband means. Yes, it means to keep me happy. But, most importantly, it means that you're supposed to help me, even if it means upsetting me. Knock some sense into me if I was about to jump off a metaphorical cliff-that kind of stuff. So, no, you can't just give me what I want all the time, because it's not healthy."

"You know, for someone who claims that 'love is to destroy', you're pretty damn good with this whole 'marriage' thing."

"You do pick some stuff up after a while of seeing the complete opposite."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jace asked, furrowing his brows.

"Valentine did have a few girlfriends here or there, and they would bow to his every whim until he got sick of them."

"But you said-"

"They thought that they could help him, but in the end they just enabled him more. Like I said, it's not healthy to give one person all of the power in a relationship."

"Clary 'I don't know your middle name' Herondale, you are bloody brilliant!"

"All I said was-"

"Clary," Jace whispered.

"Yes?"

"Don't ruin the moment."

"What moment?" she joked.

"This one," he said, and then proceeded to kiss her.

Now, Clary had never been kissed in her entire life, but it was safe to say that this wasn't any average kiss. His kiss felt like a supernova explosion or ten times greater than that. It definitely beat what she thought kissing would be like: awkwardly putting your mouth on someone else's. To be fair, she supposed if it wasn't with the right person, then it could be like that.

He suddenly pulled back to let them both breathe, but when Clary looked back at him, he looked ashamed. But, before she could say anything to him, he suddenly blurted, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that without your permission."

"Jace, unless we're in public or I pull back and specifically tell you that I don't want to kiss you then you're fine. Besides, I liked it."

"So, you aren't a PDA person?"

"No I'm not."

"Well, either way, thank the Angel that you liked it! I thought that you were going to slap me!"

"Oh," Clary laughed, "good to know that the only reason that you felt that you should've asked is because you were afraid that I was going to slap you."

"Hey, I've seen you get angry, and I feel like I have a right to fear for my life," she could tell that Jace was desperately to keep a straight face, but he was failing miserably, because he was laughing way harder than she was.

Suddenly footsteps sounded down the hallway, making them stop laughing and twist around. "Well, you kids seem to be living it up over here."

"Dad, this is my wife Clary. Clary, this is my dad, Stephen."

"Nice to meet you," she said, sticking out her hand for him to shake.

Instead of taking it though, he pulled her up and grabbed her for a hug. "Welcome to the family, Clary."

"Thanks," she blushed. "Am I… allowed to stay then?"

"Of course you are!" both men exclaimed, like it was obvious-when in fact it wasn't because about an hour ago, Celine was screaming her head off about how 'there was no way in hell that she was staying there'.

"So, just so you know, you're going to have to get married again, but here this time," Stephen said, gauging her reaction.

"Okay? But can it just be a small wedding?"

"Clary, babe, I'm sorry-" Jace started to say.

"No, I get it," she cut him off, looking at the ground, "It's supposed to be big and stuff."

"So, you're sure that you're okay with this? We can still wait a year until we make an official announcement on it," Jace said, trying to make her less uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"No. I've decided. I'm staying-for good."

"Okay then! It's decided. You kids are going to have to make some decisions tonight, because tomorrow, it's announcement time," and with that, Stephen left, just as quickly as he came.

Clary gulped. Just because she had agreed to this, did not mean that she was good with large crowds and being the center of attention. "You don't have to do this," Jace affirmed.

"I want to. I'm just not good with attention and crowds and stuff."

"Well then, that's what I'm here for," he grinned, showing the chip in his incisor. "Now, if I'm right, which I am, then we have a wedding to plan overnight!"

"Oh my-let's get this over with."

Jace laughed. "Not the whole thing, just the date and stuff. We have a while to go until we decide on the guest list, and food, and everything like that."

"Oh, okay. Then let's go!"

"That's the spirit!" he said, lifting her up off the counter and running off, with Clary's laugh echoing through the halls as he carried her to wherever they were planning the wedding at. For the first time in forever, she felt happy.


End file.
